Nine units and 31 individuals in Chengdu, Sichuan province, have been punished for neglecting their duties of harnessing the water and atmospheric environment, according to the Chengdu Economic Daily.

Early this year, city authorities set up inspection teams to supervise procedures in harnessing the environment. So far, the teams have corrected 3,120 mistakes in environmental management and held nine units and 31 individuals accountable.

The units and people involved have either done nothing or have worked arbitrarily, the inspection teams said.

In a related development, Chengdu has witnessed the worst haze in its history since Tuesday.

At 8:45 am on Thursday, the sky in downtown Chengdu was so dark that Zhao Yi, an employee in a China Mobile store on Xi’an Road told China Daily that it looked like nighttime.

Visibility had been extremely low until late in the afternoon.

“Many pedestrians have had to wear masks, which reminds me of the dreadful time during the SARS outbreak in 2003,” Zhao said.